(Montreal) Unions in 22 hotels in Montreal, Quebec and Sherbrooke are holding a joint strike day this Friday.
This is the second 24-hour strike held simultaneously by these union members. The first was held on August 8. It involves approximately 2,500 workers, members of unions affiliated with the Fédération du commerce, affiliated with the CSN.
The union federation is conducting what is called coordinated negotiations in several hotels where it has members. It is thus seeking to reach a settlement with one hotel, and then trying to extend it to other establishments, even if they are different employers.
Friday’s strike day affects two hotels in Sherbrooke, five in Quebec; the others are located in Montreal, Michel Valiquette, responsible for the sector at the Fédération du commerce, said in an interview.
The dispute is mainly about wages. The union members believe they have made sacrifices during the COVID-19 pandemic, given the difficult situation in hotels. They are therefore demanding a salary catch-up, including a 15% increase in the first year. For a four-year contract, they are asking for a 36% increase.
“The workers are showing a little of their fed-upness by the attitude of the employers at the negotiating tables. Since August 8 [date de l’autre journée de grève commune]”Three weeks passed between August 8 and August 30: in total, 46 negotiation sessions took place at the various negotiating tables. And still no settlement,” denounced Mr. Valiquette.
The post-pandemic recovery, “it has taken place and this recovery has been very, very, very profitable for hoteliers. So, we simply expect to see a return of the favor,” justified Mr. Valiquette.
Hotels respond
The Greater Montreal Hotel Association, for its part, maintains that its offers to employees “are very interesting.” It therefore “does not understand the unions’ decision to call a strike.”
“The proposals currently on the table are comparable to the agreement recently concluded between the CSN and the Omni Hotel. However, in the space of a few months, the union’s wage demands have more than doubled, now reaching 36%,” denounced the Montreal association.
“Their working conditions are already very good. For example, most room attendant jobs pay more than $25 an hour and many hotel employees earn more than $60,000 a year, and even $100,000 in some cases. Furthermore, salaries have increased at the rate of inflation for the past eight years, which has helped protect the purchasing power of employees in the industry,” added the employers’ association.
The association says it prefers “dialogue and collaboration rather than disruptive actions, particularly against customers” of hotels. Its members nevertheless hope to succeed in reaching an agreement with their respective unions while respecting their ability to pay, the association reports.